1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a labeling plate for shipping and storage tanks for liquids and bulk materials, which are equipped with a plastic inner tank with a closable filling hole and a drain hole with a tapping valve, a pallet-like support frame for supporting the inner tank, and an outer cage, which is mounted on the support frame and consists of horizontal and vertical metal cage bars for supporting the filled inner tank, wherein the cage bars are welded together at the points of intersection, and the sheet-metal labeling plate, which has limited flexural elasticity, is mounted on the outer cage.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tanks of this type for shipping and storing liquids and bulk materials, which are also known as pallet tanks, are widely known in various embodiments. In these pallet tanks, a labeling plate is usually mounted on the outer cage, on the front side, where the tapping valve is located. An information sheet or several data sheets indicating the contents of the tank, the producer of the contents, the manufacturer of the pallet tank, the registration number and similar data are pasted on this labeling plate or are inserted in a clear plastic pocket attached to the labeling plate.
DE 195 37 490 C1 describes a labeling plate of the general type specified above for pallet tanks with an outer cage, which consists of horizontal and vertical metal cage bars in the form of round tubes, which are recessed at the points of intersection to form trough-shaped, double-walled depressions that run in the longitudinal direction of the cage bars in such a way that the cage bars, which are welded together at their points of intersection lie practically in a plane. The labeling plate is attached to the outer cage and has a lower support edge, which is outwardly beveled or flanged, abuts a lower horizontal cage bar and grips behind it, while the upper edge, which is designed as a clawed edge, fits behind an upper horizontal cage bar in the mounted state of the labeling plate to elastically brace the labeling plate. In another embodiment of this previously known labeling plate, the outer edges of the upper corner areas of the labeling plate have special insert sleeves for plastic clamping pins. Each clamping pin has a head, which, in the mounted state of the labeling plate, fits into the trough-shaped depressions of the upper horizontal cage bar and in this way fixes the labeling plate in place. A plastic push button with web and film-hinge bolts that are like spreading wedges is used as a tamper-proof seal. The push button is pressed into a corresponding depression on the upper edge of the sheet-metal labeling plate.
The known pallet tanks, which are used for storing and shipping all types of liquid products of the chemical, pharmaceutical, petroleum and food industries, have the disadvantage that, during shipment in trucks, as a result of relative movement of two adjacent pallet tanks due to movement of the loading surface of the truck when the truck drives over bumps or rough areas of a roadway surface or due to driving vibrations of the transport vehicle, the label pasted onto the labeling plate of one of the pallet tanks is rubbed off by the cage bars of the outer cage of the adjacent pallet tank and rendered illegible.